Normally, any digital communication from your phone or computer is susceptible to snooping. If you’re using anything apart from WhatsApp (which recently switched on end-to-end encryption), you need to take matters into your own hands.

WhatsApp encryption - what you need to know

Within the backdrop of Apple refusing to create a backdoor into their phones when asked to by the FBI and the Panama papers investigation, you may have heard about WhatsApp turning on end-to-end encryption for all their users. This happened a while ago and is still being gradually rolled out because some are using older app versions. This is a significant step for this messaging giant which now boasts of over a billion users. This means that every message, every photo and every video is encrypted in a way that only the sender and recipient can see them. They’re not accessible to anyone at WhatsApp or to anyone else who may be snooping on the transmission/data. This is only available on the latest versions of the app on Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Obviously, both sides have to have the latest version for this to work. Also, the encryption is on by default and there’s no way to turn it off.

You might run into a verification (verify security code) page – this is optional. Each chat has a security code used to verify that calls and messages you send are end-to-end encrypted. If you go to the contact or group info screen, you’ll see a QR code and a 60-digit number. The code is unique to each chat and you can double check at each receiving party whether the numbers match.

WhatsApp may run into some issues in India owing to this level of encryption. The 256-bit encryption that WhatsApp is using is technically not allowed for online communication services. Right now, we’ll slot it into a wait and watch scenario. WhatsApp can’t really afford to lose the vast number of Indian users and neither can we do without it.

The thing is, this really makes encryption mainstream. It’s not something you have to enable with add-on software or use encryption keys. But there is a catch: the transmission is secure but this will be of no use if the devices themselves have been compromised with some form of malware or ‘snoopware’. When you want to send something with an extra layer of security, make sure that your device is malware free and them encrypt the data youself.How to encrypt & share files There are multiple methods to encrypt files when you want to send them to another person. The first method is simple – use a file transfer website that offers a built in encryption feature. The problem is, most file transfer services ask you to pay for a subscription when you want encryption. The only free service we found that offers encrypted file transfers is www.senditonthenet. com. It requires both the sender and receiver to create a free account before transferring any file and also limits you to 80MB per file. The service encrypts the file and uploads it from senders end and at the receiver’s end, it decrypts before downloading it on the system.

The second option is to use your standard cloud storage service — most services like Dropbox, Box and Google Drive offer 256-bit encryption for your stored files along with easy sharing option.

The last method is use an email service that offers file encryption. There are a number of free options like SendINC.com, Hushmail.com, tutanota.com and Protonmail.com (still in beta, access only by invite). Do keep in mind that the free accounts usually have a couple of limitations in terms of features.opware’. When you want to send something with an extra layer of security, make sure that your device is malware free and them encrypt the data youself.

Encrypt folders or the entire PC

Many of us have personal data like financial files or passwords that we don’t want anyone to access. You can safeguard this data by either encrypting a particular folder or your entire computer. If you prefer something simple, Windows users can use compression software like 7-zip (www.7-zip.org). 7-zip offers 256-bit encryption for compressing files in particular format. MAC users can use the built-in Disk Utility tool to create a encrypted compressed image of any file or folder. To do this, launch disk utility, click on File > New Image > Image from folder, select the folder you want to encrypt and then choose if you want 128 bit or 256 bit encryption.

To encrypt the entire disk, Windows comes with a built-in tool called Bitlocket while Mac lets you do the same with Disk Utility. If you want more options, you can use third party, cross platform software called VeraCrypt. It lets you compress entire disk volumes and is available for free from https://veracrypt.codeplex.com. Veracrypt lets you encrypt the entire hard drive and it also supports encryption of USB flash drives and memory cards.

Encrypt files or folders on a smartphone

Our smartphones can contain a lot of important information plus personal photos/videos and contacts. In recent case between Apple and FBI, smartphone encryption was the main reason why the FBI was unable to access the data stored on the iPhone. iPhone and iPad users with iOS8 and above can go to Setting > Touch ID & Passcode (devices without TouchID can go to Settings > Passcode) and then scroll to the bottom. If you have a passcode enabled for protection, you can see the last line mentioned as ‘Data protection is enabled’. If it does not say that, then you need to set a password for security and encryption will automatically be enabled on your device.

For Android users, while having a passcode as a screen lock does provide a basic level of security, it is not equal to encryption. To enable encryption, you will have to go to Settings > Security and from there you can choose to encrypt all data on your phone or encrypt SD card storage. Keep in mind that this can take between 30 minutes to several hours depending on the amount of data. Also, if you encrypt your SD card on one phone, data on it will not be accessible on any other device unless you decrypt the SD card on the same phone first.

Several people ET spoke with about Ericsson’s India operations, including its current and former employees, said the Stockholm-based firm has reduced headcount in the last one year or so across functions, in line with its global restructuring.